This invention relates to a street identification sign and supporting post assembly, It relates particularly to means for securing street sign boards to the top of a vertical tubular support post in a manner to make the signs essentially vandal and theft proof.
Street signs are frequently subjected to various forms of abuse and vandalism that require considerable replacement, repair and maintenance expense. Vandals often break the signs from the supporting posts and carry them away or rotate the signs 90 degrees to misdirect or confuse the traveler. In addition to vandalism and theft, street signs are subject to all types of traffic hazards and wind and weather conditions that often loosen or destroy the signs and make the assembly ineffective until repaired or replaced.
A number of prior patents have disclosed street sign assemblies designed to resist theft, vandalism and damage. U.S. Pat. No. 3,935,655 to Fritzinger (1976), U.S. Pat. No. 4,455,775 to Fritzinger (1984) and U.S. Pat. No. 4,854,063 to Brunell (1989) all disclose attempts to make street sign assemblies vandal and theft proof. These prior designs use internal, hidden threaded fasteners to secure the signs to the supporting post. By hiding the fasteners used to attach the signs to the supporting post, the removal of the signs by vandals is discouraged, but not prevented. These prior designs however, usually required a large number of separate parts and fasteners and special tools which made the assembly or disassembly of these prior sign post assemblies in the field difficult and significantly increased the cost of the assembly.